This post was prepared on May 8th, but not posted until May 10th due to lack of internet connection in the interim.
Today was another good day. Now so far as yesterday, and not so much up and sown as the day before.
I started out fm St. Alban sur Limagnole shortly after 08:00. There were more walkers staying at the same auberge overnight, and we all seemed to leave shortly after one another. And as I made my way out of town it seemed like more were falling in with that more were falling in with the general procession. All made their way along the trail as it wound upwards to the first stone cross of the day
From there, it was downhill again to Graziere-Mages, and across the main road to ascend again to Chabanes Planes. The land is relatively flat so these ascents and descents were generally 100 metres or less. There seemed to be nothing in Chabanes Planes, so I did not wait around but went straight through the village and on to les Estrets. The trail has to descend into Les Estrets, and there was nothing there either to delay for so it was straight on up the hill on the other side of the valley. With no waiting around, it was a case of moving on through the hamlet of Bigose and getting through the forest to come to Aumont-Aubrac.
Aumont-Aubrac is a decent sized town, but many of the restaurants were closed for the May 8th (Victory Day) holiday. So I had a beer and kept on going, something that I was to regret later on. While having the beer, I phoned ahead to arrange my accommodation, but most places seemed full, and I could only get one gite to take me.
I made better time than expected on the next piece, and made it quickly to la Chaze de Peyre. The sign coming into the village said that there is a Church (correct), Public WC (correct) and bar/café (incorrect: there isn’t). But I got my Pilgrim passport stamped by the local priest, visited the church, and went on.
Coming towards Lasbros, there was the Chapelle de Bastide in the middle of a road junction.
Then it was on through Lasbros. The village restaurant was closed for the holiday. By now, after nothing pushed on anyway.
The rain was threatening when leaving Lasbros, but it finally started as I was approaching Quatre Chemin. It started to come down in earnest just as I reached my destination for the day: Chez Regine. I was lucky, because the rain did not stop for the rest of the evening. Chez Regine is a bar and gite, and the main clientele seems to be the local farmers, who frequent the bar. Regine herself is a lady of indeterminate age who runs her establishment her way, and clearly has scant regard for any rules other than her own. She does not provide evening meals, and the most that she could be persuaded to give by way of food was a “Croque Monsieur”.The gite is basic, but OK; I had dormitory accommodation since that was all that was available. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
And the step count for today was 40609
Walkingman 